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Mercenary Tao
|FirstApp=Manga: "Taopaipai the Assassin" Anime: "The Land of Korin" |Race=Human (rebuilt as a cyborg after his defeat by Goku) |Gender=Male |Date of birth=Age 459Daizenshuu 7 |Date of death= |Height=5'10" (178 cm)[http://www.kanzentai.com/trans-daiz07.php?m=03&id=character_s-u#tao_pai_pai Kanzentai, DragonBall Daizenshuu 7 – DragonBall Encyclopedia] |Weight=154 lbs. (70 kg) |Occupation= Mercenary for hire General (Mystical Adventure only) |Allegiance = Crane School hired by the Red Ribbon Army |FamConnect=Master Shen (Brother) Tien Shinhan (Former Student) Chiaotzu (Former Student)}} is a highly skilled assassin-for-hire and the younger brother of Master Shen. He is very expensive to pay as he normally charges ten billion Zeni per kill, but gave Commander Red a 20th anniversary discount of five billion Zeni (fifty million in the Japanese version).Dragon Ball chapter 85, Taopaipai the Assassin Biography Early Life Tao was born in Age 459 just two years before the King Piccolo Wars which his brother Shen served in.Dragon Ball episode 102, Enter King Piccolo Even though he was younger, Tao was always one step ahead of his older brother and a rivalry then grew between them. They began to fight over the smallest things and eventually, a simple spilled bowl of rice was enough to break them apart. At the age of 279, Tao started his career as a mercenary for hire. Though it was never stated, Tao must have gained immortality in some sort of way causing him to live for over 200 years. Tao was said to be a major influence to Tien Shinhan during his days training with the Crane School. Dragon Ball Commander Red Saga Twenty years after starting his career as a Mercenary, Tao was hired by the Red Ribbon Army to kill Goku, who had been defeating all of their operatives and taking away the Dragon Balls they acquired, messing with Commander Red's secret wish of getting taller. When General Blue arrives at the Red Ribbon Army headquarters failing his mission, Commander Red gives him a deal. In order to redeem himself, he must defeat Mercenary Tao. Tao easily dodges Blue's flurry of punches and kills him, one of the Red Ribbon Army's strongest operatives, only using his tongue, with Commander Red and Staff Officer Black watching to prove that his assistance is worth the high price. After looking at his target's photo, Tao throws a pillar from the Red Ribbon Army's headquarters and rides it, and meets Goku in the Sacred Land of Korin. When Bora challenges Tao, Tao murders Bora, a man who had previously held off the Red Ribbon Army single handedly and who tried to defend Goku, by launching him into the air and throwing Bora's spear at Bora, stabbing him. Goku goes mad and attacks Tao, and proves to be more of a challenge, but Tao knocks him around a bit and then knocks him out with the Dodon Ray technique. Upa, Bora's son, tries to attack Tao with a rock, but Tao just blows it back to Upa. Tao ends up only retrieving three of the Dragon Balls which were located in the backpack Goku had. The last ball was in his outfit which saved him from being killed by the Dodon Ray. Since Tao's uniform was ruined by Goku's Kamehameha in the battle, he takes off to a town where he forces a tailor to make a new copy of his uniform for free. During the three days, Tao intimidates the townspeople into obtaining free luxuries such as a hotel room. In filler, a sniper in the town tries to assassinate Tao but fails. After his uniform is finished (three days later), Tao kills the tailor using a Pressure Point Attack and returns to the land of Korin to retrieve the missing Dragon Ball. When he arrives, Upa attacks him, but Tao dodges his attack and strangles him for where the Dragon Ball is located. When Upa refuses to answer, Tao throws him at the tower, where Goku narrowly saves him, to Tao's surprise. He then fights Goku, who had been specially trained by Korin after climbing his tower and proved to be far too strong for Tao. Tao resorts to bringing out his sword, which breaks in a clash with Goku's Power Pole. After Tao decides Goku was too powerful, he himself climbs Korin Tower to retrieve the Sacred Water that had made Goku so powerful. He easily ascends the tower and meets Korin. Korin knows that Tao is a wicked assassin, so he tricks Tao and gives him the useless Sacred Water. After that, Korin uses a trick to make Tao believe he has improved so he will leave. He sends Tao back down the tower on the Dark Nimbus to prevent him from gaining any strength from the tower climb. Tao challenges Goku again when the Nimbus crashes into the ground and only manages to do slightly better, not enough to defeat Goku. Seeing that he was still no match for Goku, Tao pretends to surrender and, like a coward, throws a grenade at Goku. Tao jumps high into the air to avoid the explosion, Goku kicks the grenade back at him, which detonates and seemingly kills the assassin. Though Goku presumed Tao dead, Tao used all of the money he gained from his previous jobs to be rebuilt as a cyborg. During the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, Master Shen learns of Goku's encounter with his brother, Tao. Shen instructs Tien to kill Goku in the arena to avenge his death, but, thanks to Master Roshi, Tien comes to his senses and ceases his affiliation with the Crane School, with Chiaotzu following him. Piccolo Jr. Saga However, Tao is rebuilt as a cyborg by his older brother, Shen, and competes in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, brutally defeating Chiaotzu. He fights Tien Shinhan next, and after knowing he cannot beat him fairly, violates the rules of the tournament by using a hidden knife to cut Tien's chest, scarring him for life. Despite being disqualified, Tao continued to fight, admitting that he doesn't really care if he actually wins the match, and that he only participated so he could kill Tien. After Tien broke Tao's blade, Tao used the Super Dodon Wave, only for Tien to nullify it with a Kiai. Tien then knocked him out swiftly, then carried the unconscious Tao to his older brother Master Shen, who carried him away in disgrace. Dragon Ball Z Cell Games Saga In the anime, Tao makes two appearances in Dragon Ball Z during the Cell Games Saga. In his first appearance, he works as a personal bodyguard for Mr. Borbonne, a short man who runs a shelter which can supposedly protect people from Cell at Chazke Village. Everything was going exactly according to plan until Gohan appeared in the village, disrupting the scheme Mr. Borbonne had going. As the man's bodyguards surrounded Gohan, an old man from the village (Mr. Lao) arrived dressed in a Chinese-styled dogu martial arts outfit. After dispatching the black-suited bodyguards, the man called for Tao to come out and take care of the old man. After a series of exchanged blows, Tao has the man on the ground. He would have finished the man off with a Super Dodon Wave, but Gohan stepped in the way at the last second, protecting Mr. Lao and himself from the Super Dodon Wave. Tao asks his name and breathes a sigh of relief in hearing his name was Go-HAN instead of Go-KU (Tao is fearful of Goku because of their previous confrontations in Dragon Ball). However, his relief is quickly exchanged with fear as he learns Gohan is Goku's son and he flies off on a pine tree, effectively resigning from his position as a bodyguard. In his second appearance, he works as a henchman for Vodka, a rich gangster who has hired him to gather the Dragon Balls so he may wish for immortality to protect himself from Perfect Cell. Goku shows up to gather the two that Tao has collected, but Goku is disappointed at himself for having nothing to offer Tao in return. The assassin then poses a challenge to Goku: if Goku can disassemble three complex puzzle rings by dawn the following day, then he will be awarded the Dragon Balls. If he cannot, however, Goku must surrender the ones he has with him. Tao then offers to take Goku's jacket (which contains Goku's gathered Dragon Balls) while Goku works on the puzzles, and while Goku is distracted with the puzzle rings, Tao steals Goku's Dragon Balls and drives far away throughout the night with the gangsters. After Goku solves the puzzle rings, he simply uses Instant Transmission to find Tao and the gangsters. The naive Goku is unaware there was any ill-will on the part of Tao, and is given the Dragon Balls without any resistance. Tao has not appeared again in the series after this. He presumably met his doom either when Super Buu launched his Human Extinction Attack, or when Kid Buu blew up the Earth with his Planet Burst during the Kid Buu Saga. However, his reappearance in Dragon Ball Online suggests that he either managed to escape the Earth when it blew up or was somehow counted among those not evil when revived by the Dragon Balls. Movies Mystical Adventure In Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure, Tao is part of a plan with Master Shen and Tien Shinhan to take over the kingdom of Mifan, which is ruled by Emperor Chiaotzu. After having Pilaf, Shu and Mai build a Global Dragon Radar for them, Tao attacks the Pilaf Gang, and he and his brother use the Dragon Radar to have Chiaotzu's army gather the Dragon Balls for them after secretly stealing his "wife" Ran Ran. Tao kills Lieutenant Blue just before the Chiaotzu's Tournament due to his nearly ruining their plans by exposing where they were keeping Ran Ran. During the tournament, Tao is ordered to kill Bora right in the arena: Tao throws him and Bora is impaled by a statue. After he kills Bora, Tao fights Goku. Tao's clothes get ruined by a Kamehameha and Tao retaliates with a Dodon Ray, which blows Goku off all the way to Korin Tower. After he gets his clothes changed, Tao takes a pillar from the castle and rides it to the location Goku was at. On his way, he passes by Penguin Village and gets knocked off the pillar by a rock thrown at him by Arale. Falling face first into the ground, Arale pokes at him with a stick and laughs. When Tao gets up he tries to ignore Arale, but Goku shows up. Tao begins to charge at Goku but falls back because Arale and the Gatchans had his pony tail tied to a tree. Tao undoes the knot and uses a Dodon Ray on Arale, but it turns out to not injure her. The Gatchans shoot Tao with a beam and Tao continues to fight Goku. After Goku is able to block Tao's Dodon Ray, Tao begins to fake surrendering and throws a capsule to bring a vehicle out. Just after shaking Goku's hand saying that he was a worthy opponent, Tao steals Goku's Dragon Ball and flies off in his vehicle, shooting two missiles as he leaves. However, Goku and Arale deflect both missiles back at Tao, destroying his vehicle and killing him as well. Personality Tao is shown to be extremely psychotic and sadistic, taking a lot of joy in killing people. He also has absolutely no qualms in regards to murdering children, as evidenced when, shortly after Upa attempted to avenge his father, Tao stated that Upa should be lucky that he even survived. He is also shown to be a coward when confronted with an enemy he can't beat, resorting to dirty tactics to beat them, as evidenced by his attempt to throw a grenade at Goku after begging for mercy and promising to change his ways. Power When Tao is introduced he is shown to be very powerful at that point in the series. He toys with Goku and the only damage he receives from Goku's Kamehameha is to his clothes. At this point, Goku's strength was near to that of Master Roshi's during the 21st World Tournament (which was weaker than Roshi's strength in the following Tournament). After Goku receives training from Korin, Tao is easily overpowered although in the anime, Tao drinks Korin's Sacred water and Goku states that Tao's strength has increased. When he reappears as a cyborg he is believed to have gained a lot of strength. In an issue of V-Jump, Cyborg Tao's power level is stated to be 210. This would mean he would be stronger than Krillin and Yamcha were at the beginning of Dragon Ball Z. This great power was still not enough to defeat Tien Shinhan who defeated Tao with ease. Techniques and Weapons *'Pressure Point Attack:' Tao uses his tongue or fingers to pierce the opponent's temple, striking their pressure point and killing them. He does this with General Blue, stating that he does not need his hands to kill the man, and later to a the tailor he forced to make a new copy of his uniform. *'Flying Pillars:' Tao throws a pillar (or something similar, like a tree) into the air in a certain direction and jumps on it, riding it to his destination. The pillar may also strike the opponents at the landing spot. *'Levitate:' Though Tao cannot fly, he is shown to be able to fly in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, though this feature is removed in the sequels (he can once again fly with a flight capsule on Tenkaichi 3). He can fly without the flight capsule in his cyborg state. *'Dodon Ray:' Crane School's signature technique. A super heated ray fired from the tip of his finger. *'Crane Style Assassin Strike:' A Rush Attack used by Mercenary Tao against Goku in Dragon Ball. *'Ultimate Final Strategy:' Tao launches his pillar at that opponent, however, Tao's opponent kicks him, in which he begs for mercy to make his opponents drop their guard. When Tao's opponent will then walk away, Tao pulls out a hand grenade and throws it at his opponent. *'Grenade:' Used to end the Ultimate Final Strategy technique. A dirty final resort that backfired and caused Tao to be rebuilt into a cyborg. *'Swordsmanship:' From a capsule, Tao brings out a sword for fighting. *'Concealed Knife:' After Tao became a cyborg, he disconnects his left hand to reveal a retractable knife. When Tien was slashed by this sneak attack, he claimed that Tao has lost his honor and pride of a warrior. Due to his use of this technique during the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, Tao lost his tournament match with Tien by disqualification for violating tournament rules banning the use of weapons. In the ''Budokai Tenkaichi'' series, this move is called "Hidden Blade". *'Super Dodon Wave:' After Tao became a cyborg, he disconnects his right hand to reveal a built-in cannon, which can fire an enhanced Dodon Ray. This technique also has lock-on capabilities''Dragon Ball'' anime. Piccolo Jr. Saga, Episode 136 ("Tien Shinhan vs. Mercenary Tao") Mercenary Tao explains the lock-on capabilities of the Super Dodon Wave and is Cyborg Tao's ultimate attack. *'False Courage': One of Tao's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. *'Wild Sense': One of Tao's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. *'Afterimage Strike': One of Cyborg Tao's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. Video game appearances Tao is a boss in Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden and Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen. He is also a boss during the quest for the Dragon Balls in Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II in which he can use his special attack, Dodon Ray (essentially a yellow-orange version of the Kamehameha) and fire energy blasts. He appears as a boss in the game Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure twice, once as an undefeatable opponent (due to the story) and again as a regular boss; his normal and cyborg forms are also unlockable as playable characters in Tournament Mode and Extra Mode. He also appears in Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo as the main enemy of chapter 4 and is unlocked once gaining all the treasures in this chapter. Tao is featured as a playable character in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi and its sequels, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3. In the Majin Buu Saga chapter of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Videl and Gohan, the latter donning his Great Saiyaman alter ego, ended up having to fight Tao Pai Pai in order to apprehend him. Cyborg Tao also appears, redesigned as Tao Pai Pai X, in Dragon Ball Online. He is apparently residing in the base of the former Red Ribbon Army and has started excavating and mining Korin's Sacred Land. Major Battles *Tao vs. General Blue *Tao vs. Bora *Tao vs. Goku *Tao vs. Goku (second time) *Tao vs. Chiaotzu *Tao vs. Tien *Tao vs. Mr. Lao Voice Actors *Japanese Dub: Chikao Ohtsuka (DB, Current Video Games), Yukimasa Kishio (DBZ, Early Video Games) *FUNimation Dub: Kent Williams *Ocean Dub: Scott McNeil *Harmony Gold Dub: Michael McConnohie (Movie 3) *Latin American Dub: Gerardo Reyero (first voice), Pedro D'Aguillon Jr. (second voice) *German Dub: Rolf Berg *Italian Dub: Maurizio Scattorin *Portuguese Dub: António Semedo *Brazilian Dub: Wellington Lima Trivia *Tao has been known by a number of names in the various English versions of the series. He is called "General Tao Pei" in the abortive late-1980's Dragon Ball anime dub by Harmony Gold, "Taopaipai" (all in one word) in the Viz adaptation of the manga, In FUNimation's dub of Dragon Ball Z, he is erroneously referred to as "General Tao", as well as erroneously being referred to as the leader of The Red Ribbon Army; these errors were NOT corrected in the revised dub in the Season Sets. The "General Tao" denomination is a mixup with the movie Mystical Adventure, an alternate-dimension Dragon Ball story. In that movie, Tao is actually a General. However, in the main timeline of the series, he never holds that position. *Mercenary Tao is the first villain Goku faces to use an Energy Wave technique (the Dodonpa). *Tao is the first villain to defeat Goku in battle (Master Roshi, disguised as Jackie Chun, first defeated Goku, but he was not a villain). *On the back of his outfit it says "KILL YOU!". This is edited in some dubbed versions of the show (but not the Cell Games Saga of Dragon Ball Z). *Mercenary Tao's Super Dodon Wave cannon later holds the puzzle rings seen in "The Puzzle of General Tao". *It appears that in the Budokai Tenkaichi games he can fly (1st form with flight capsule equipped only in Tenkaichi 3, but in his Cyborg form he can fly without the flight capsule). Oddly, despite being Crane Hermits's younger brother and theortically knowing the Crane style, he apparently lacks the signature Crane bukujutsu flying technique. Also in Tenkaichi 3, he is called General Tao, his position in the film Mystical Adventure. *In the german dub of Dragon Ball, Tao is given a robotic voice after he became a Cyborg. Gallery References Category:Characters Category:Assasins Category:Cyborgs Category:Humans Category:Males Category:Martial Artists Category:Siblings Category:Swordsmen Category:Tournament fighters Category:Villains Category:Dragon Ball Category:Dragon Ball Z Category:Characters Who Cannot Die of Natural Causes Category:Characters who can't fly